Judge Restores $7B Solar for All, Says EPA Illegally Killed It — SkimNews
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- Judge Mary McElroy, a Trump-appointed U.S. District Court judge in Rhode Island, vacated the EPA's termination of the $7 billion Solar for All program, ruling the agency violated the Administrative Procedure Act by acting outside its statutory authority.
- The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed by President Trump on July 4, 2025, did not convert already obligated Solar for All grants into a lump sum subject to EPA's discretion, McElroy wrote — Congress's clear intent was for the agency to keep administering them.
- Solar for All was part of a nearly $27 billion Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund created by the Inflation Reduction Act, and was designed to bring zero-emission energy to low-income and disadvantaged communities.
- EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin had argued on social media that the agency "no longer has the statutory authority to administer the program or the appropriated funds to keep this boondoggle alive," a claim the court rejected.
- Conservation Law Foundation, Southern Environmental Law Center, Lawyers for Good Government, and the Lawyers Committee for Rhode Island sued on behalf of the Rhode Island AFL-CIO, Rhode Island Center for Justice, and Solar United Neighbors; plaintiff Jillian Blanchard said families faced higher energy bills while the billions sat out of reach for over a year.
- The EPA had obligated the Solar for All funding by a September 2024 deadline with the funds set to be available for five years, before terminating the program about a month after OBBBA repealed the parent Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund.
Why it matters: The ruling blocks EPA from clawing back $7 billion in already obligated solar grants tied up with nonprofits and state programs serving low-income households. By reading the OBBBA's repeal language narrowly, the decision limits the agency's ability to unilaterally terminate clean-energy funds that had been legally committed before the law passed, marking the latest in a series of court setbacks for Trump's renewable-energy rollbacks.
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